What is the result when an Asian country tries to manage the tourism industry by charging a fair amount of entry tax to the adventurous traveller? Plus when it wants to keep far away from the madding backpacking crowds? Take 20.000 visitors a year and mix it with a 100% Buddhist population in a landlocked country with dreamy landscapes that will tantalize every serious travelista. Ok, you have to have a certain budget to get in. But who wouldn’t pay a bit more for a destination where the happiest people in the world live, where chilli peppers are eaten as a vegetable rather than a spice and where the beer, called Red Panda, is devilish tasty? And oh, we forgot to mention the Zhongs where monks live who perform now and the then the most hypnotic chants and dances and the fact that the locals are dressed as if they are huge fans of Dries Van Noten who decided that men also can wear skirts and sexy socks. If this isn’t enough we can give away that one of the best hotels Classe Touriste ever every stayed in is located here. High in the valley of Punaka you can stay in one of the five, fabulous Aman Resorts of Bhutan. In Punaka it’s an old summer palace that is hosting eight guests who will experience Bhutan at it’s best. An experience trough guided visits and tours in comfy jeeps, refined cuisine and mesmerising vista’s over de Punaka valley. And if you wonder after a while why the people of Bhutan are voted as the most happiest in the world, then just smell the air and find out that there grows more marihuana along the side of the road than in Jamaica and that a man AND a woman can have several spouses. Who wouldn’t pay a bit more for that!

Beautiful pictures, Thank You. Bhutan is last existing Shangri La in the Himalayas. I am from Nepal and always wanted to go to Bhutan. I think Buddhism and medieval Himalayan lifestyle was preserved intact in Bhutan as it always remained aloof from the strife in its neighboring country. I am planning longer, walking tour with regular sightseeing of popular sites.

Lady Indo

I love these photos and the story that you told of these Buddhists. <3